The staff of the Greenwich Hospital/Yale New Haven Health Bendheim Cancer Center at 77 Lafayette Place , Greenwich, Tuesday afternoon, 2013, gets their photo taken prior to a ribbon cutting event to celebrate the renovation at the center.
Photo: Bob Luckey

As part of the collaboration, Yale Cancer Center specialists will work with Greenwich oncologists and medical staff, giving patients access to a bigger network of doctors as well as numerous clinical trials offered by the New Haven institution.

"It's a way to bring to Greenwich the very best in cancer care," said Dr. Thomas Lynch, director of the Yale Cancer Center and physician in chief of the Smilow Cancer Hospital, after a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday at the renovated facility.

Greenwich Hospital already offers a number of services for cancer patients, including chemotherapy, radiation and a dedicated breast center. In the new office, Yale specialists in prostate, head and neck, gynecologic, brain and other cancers will be available to see patients in Greenwich.

Lynch said doctors are particularly excited about new clinical trials in prostate cancer, including tests of new drugs that can be used when hormones are not working to successfully treat the disease.

Dr. Dickerman Hollister Jr., medical director of Greenwich Hospital's Bendheim Cancer Center, said some of the center's patients have gone to Yale to see specialists, so the new partnership means many more people can see doctors closer to home.

Hollister's practice moved out of the second floor at the Lafayette Place building when renovations began several months ago. It moved into space on Valley Drive, but then had to move into the hospital in October after Hurricane Sandy knocked out power to the temporary offices.

The new offices underwent $2.5 million in structural and aesthetic renovations, said Frank Corvino, Greenwich Hospital's president and CEO. Along with a more open floor plan, the new therapy areas are equipped with flat-screen televisions, and the chairs are draped with blankets hand-knit ir crocheted by volunteers.

"Patients who have to undergo chemotherapy and radiation really want to be in a warm, happy environment, and that's what we really wanted to provide here," Corvino said. "We want it to feel like home. That's what we achieved."

The new approach will also provide comprehensive cancer care that is difficult to find in the tri-state area, Corvino said.

"It shows a major commitment on our part to cancer therapy," Corvino said.